1. Field of the Invention
The invention is primarily directed to a technique for printing carpet, and more particularly, to a printing technique that uses sublimable dyes and uses the carpet backing as the transfer carrier for the sublimable dyes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,896 discloses it is old to use transfer printing operations to print carpet designs.
Transfer printing through the use of sublimable dyes is an old art. Normally, the dye is carried on a transfer carrier or sheet and the transfer carrier is placed up against the surface to be dyed. Through the use of heat and pressure, the sublimable dyes are converted to a vapor stage and transferred to the surface of a material adjacent the transfer carrier. The transfer carrier is then usually discarded. When one would attempt to transfer print heavy fabrics, such as carpet, then vacuum action would be required to attempt to secure some dye penetration into the fabric.
The inventive technique herein is the utilization of the transfer carrier as a portion of the finished product. Herein, specifically, the transfer carrier is used as the conventional backing for a carpet product that has tufted thereinto the carpet face yarns which will be subsequently dyed by the sublimable dyes on the transfer carrier. The design printed on the conventional backing is on the side of the backing opposite from the carpet face yarns so that the conventional latex coating, which is normally applied to a tufted carpet, will lock the residual dyes on the carpet backing to the carpet backing.